Santa Clara County Emergency Field Hospital Admits First Two Patients

Santa Clara County’s new emergency coronavirus field respite center has admitted its first two patients.

The field hospital at the Santa Clara Convention Center is set up to take in 250 patients at a time with supplies and medicine from the National Guard.

The two patients have less severe cases and were moved to the center on Sunday to free up hospital beds for more critically ill people. It is one of California’s first such emergency centers to become active.

“Today's patients will have the ability to recuperate in a safe setting while still sheltering in place (and) keeping all of our residents and essential workers protected,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said in a statement.

We are sharing a quick tour of the temporary medical facility in Santa Clara County generously provided by the federal government in case of a “hospital surge” (a sharp increase) of #COVID19 cases. pic.twitter.com/GjKTBJjvSl

Patients will be admitted to the field center after being referred from other facilities. County officials say people will not be admitted on a walk-in basis.

The county has also launched a public database with information on the number of hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators that are still available in the county, which found that as of Sunday nearly half of the county’s hospital beds were still open, as well as 91 ICU beds.

The county remains the hardest hit in the Bay Area with 1,207 cases and 39 deaths from the coronavirus.

In San Francisco, the Palace of Fine Arts is being converted into a shelter for 162 homeless to keep them protected and socially distant. The first 20-25 residents are expected to move in by the end of the week.

Alameda County has 566 confirmed cases with 12 deaths and Contra Costa County has 386 cases with 6 deaths. There are 3,623 cases in total in the Bay Area and 89 deaths. Across the state of California, there have been over 15,000 cases with 350 deaths.